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Mon, 02 Jan 2012 6:03p.m.
By Annabelle Tukia
It's just what Christchurch didn't want to hear - warnings that a big one, 7.0 on the Richter scale, is probably coming.
The word comes from Canterbury University scientists who've been looking at a marked increase in seismic activity in a fault off the eastern coastline.
A new year, but the same old reality - thousands of Canterbury households were jolted awake this morning after a series of overnight earthquakes, the biggest measuring 5.5.
Ten thousand homes in the city's east lost their power temporarily after the shakes knocked out a transformer at the Dallington substation.
"Unfortunately the quake of this size this morning, and probably the length of it, tripped it out," says Orion's Stuart Kilduff.
The swarm of quakes began just before 1:30am with a 5.1 magnitude shake. It was followed by a number of threes and fours. But they were only were the curtain-raisers - the main event was a 5.5 located off the New Brighton coastline in Pegasus Bay.
Geologist Mark Quigley says the heightened activity isn't unusual after the big shakes just before Christmas, and they're not likely to be over yet.
"It's a virtual certainty of getting more earthquakes greater than five, and even a moderate chance of another six going forward," he says.
Dr Quigley says the location of these most recent aftershocks means there is concern about a group of faults in Pegasus Bay, including faults offshore of Kaiapoi. These haven't ruptured for thousands of years, but are big enough to generate a quake of magnitude 7.0.
"Because of the way things are shifting around out there, I think it's difficult for us," says Dr Quigley. "We don't know exactly when the last event was. It's difficult to put our finger on that precisely and also the precise reoccurrence interval."
Christchurch's mayor accepts that people will have to endure more quakes.
"For some it will be the last straw, but really its just a series of aftershocks and we need to prepare ourselves. There will be more inevitably, but nobody was hurt, no significant damage and that's the good news."
Residents hoping for a quiet start to 2012 weren't impressed this morning's rude awakenings.
The good news is that this time damage was minimal, and so was the liquefaction.
3 News
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Fears-ano ... .aspx#ixzz1iHFhBgC5 |
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